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)>KT,[VEUKr)IN illE METROPOLITAN HALL, IN llli; CUV OK NKW YORK. NoS. 4, A. L. ,)8")-- 

AT THE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION OK THE INITIATION OF OEOROE 

WASHINOJTOX INTO THE ORDER OF FREE AM> 

ACCEPTED ^lASONS. 



BY STEPHEN H. TYNG, D.D. 

I'UUKI'IIKR WITH 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS 




,; PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE M. W. GRAND LODCE. 



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NEW- YORK: 
PRINTED BY ROBERT M A C O Y 
1852. 






WASHINGTON, 



AN EXEMPLIFICATION OF THE 



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riiinplcs of Jfrte P^asoiirg: 



AN ORATION 



DELIVERED IN THE METROPOLITAN HALL, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK, NOV. 4, A. t. 5852, 

AT THE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION OF THE INITIATION OF GEORGE 

WASHINGTON INTO THE ORDER OF FREE AND 

ACCEPTED MASONS. 



BY STEPHEN H. TYNG, D.D. 



TOGETHER ^VITH 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OFTHE M. W. GRAND LODGE, 



NEW- YORK: 

PRINTED BY ROBERT M A C Y 
18 52. 



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TO THE 

AND 

OTHER OFFICERS 

or THE 

GEAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS, 

IN THE 

STATE OF NEW YORK, 

AND TO THE 

BRETHREN OF OUR ORDER 

THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, IN THE HOPE THAT IT MAY CE MADE< 
THE INSTRUMENT OF GIVING DUE HONOR TO THE 

■ PRINCIPLES OF MASONRY, 

AND OF 

CALLING THE ATTENTION OF MASONS 

TO THE 
CHARACTER AND JUST INFLUENCE OF THEIR 

EXALTED BROTHER, 

AS AN EXAMPLE FOR THEMSELVES, THE FOLLOWING 



6niti0K is gelritatcij, 



BY THEIR 

BROTHER AXD FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



(BUltt Qi Uit 6xu)i Bnxtiuu 

OF THE GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF THE STATE OF 
NEW YORK. 

jSTew York, Nov. lOtfi, 5852. 

Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, D.D. 

Rev, Sir and Bro. — On behalf of the M. "W. Grand Lodge of the 
State of New York, I have the lionor to solicit a copy of your Oration, delivered 
at the Centennial Commemoration of the initiation of the illustrious Wasuing- 
TON, on the 4th inst., with a view to its publication and subsequent circulation 
among the Craft. 

Permit me to express my belief that no event which has occurred in our Ma- 
sonic history since the days of the immortal Washington, is so well calculated 
to effect substantial good to our beloved Institution, in removing prejudice, con- 
vincing the skeptical, and strengthening the bonds of friendship, as the free 
diffusion of that Address amongst the Fraternity and the Public generally. 

Believe me, with sentiments of high esteem, 

Respectfully and Fraternally yours, 

JAMES W. POWELL, M.D., 

Grand Secretary. 



St. George's Rectory, Nov. 10, 1852. 

Dr. J, W. Powell, 

G. S. M. W. G. L., JV. Y. 

Dear Sir and Bro. — The Address of which you speak ?o flatter- 
ingly, is at the service of the Grand Lodge. I shall be gratified to have it made 
useful in elevating the outward consideration and the inward self-respect of our 
Order. 

With much respect. 

Your friend and brother, 

STEPHEN H. TYNG. 



CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION 

OF THE 

Inttiatian of George Maslringtou kta ixn llasonrg, 

NOVEMBER 4th, A.L. 5852. 



It is one of the glories of Free Masonry, that the greatest, 
the wisest, and the best men of all ^es have been enrolled 
under her banners ; but amongst those honored names which 
are recorded in Masonic annals, there is none so high, none 
so honored by our American brethren, as that of Washington. 
The time when the Father of his Country received his first 
lessons in Masonry is authenticated beyond cavil ; and as the 
solemn period approached which would mark the passage of 
a century from that interesting event, a very general desire 
was manifested by the brotherhood to celebrate it with be- 
coming solemnities. Accordingly, the M. W. Grand Lodge 
of the State of New York being specially convened, appointed 
a Committee to make the necessary arrangements, consisting 
of the following brethren : — 

W. Frederick Fawcett, i W. J. P. Finkklmeier, 

" William Lyon, I " John W. Simons. 



Charles L. Church, 
Robert Macoy, 
L. A. Sykes, 
J. D. Stewart, 



S. C, Wescott, 
H. F. L. Bunting, 
E. Lyons. 



The Committee invited our distinguished brother, the Rev, 
Stephen H. Tyng, D.D., to deliver the oration, which he 
kindly accepted. Our artist brethren volunteered their 
valuable services with a promptness and a fervor which at 



8 CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION. 

once relieved the Committee from all doubt as to the success 
of the proposed festival. Brother John Brougham wrote a beau- 
tiful and appropriate ode for the occasion. Our distinguished 
brethren, Wm. Vincent Wallace and Henry C. Watson, fur- 
nished original music ; the latter gentleman consenting to 
take upon himself the direction of the musical arrangements. 
Brothers Braham, Brough, and Cafferty, gave the powerful 
aid of their vocal talents. Brother Tlmm consented to preside 
at the Organ. 

It is not amongst the least of the glories of Masonry that 
learning and art have always sought her influences. To our 
artistic brethren the Fraternity of New York stands deeply 
indebted ; with great liberality and enthusiasm they have on 
this, as on former occasions, lent their powerful aid to beau- 
tify and adorn " Tlie Templet 

The Committee decided on engaging Metropolitan Hall, 
and issued the followinsr 



ir 111 "^ ^^ m im IM mm ife m 

The musical arrangements under the direction of Biio. Henry C. Watson. 

Overture by Dodworth's Band. 

Opening Hymn Full Choir and Organ. 

Great Source of light and love, 

To thee our songs we raise ; 
Oh ! in thy temple, Lord, above. 

Hear and accept our praise. 

May all the sons of peace 

Their every grace improve, 
'Till discords through the nations cease, 

And all the world be Love. 

Masonic Ode Trio and Chorus. 

Music by Bro. Wm. Vincent Wallace. 
^ Sung by Bros. Braiiam, Watson, and Bkough. 

Chorus, accompanied by Brass Instruments. 

To him who rules, be homage paid. 

Where hearts with voice unite ; 
To him we bring fraternal aid. 

Who guides in solemn rite. 



CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION. 9 

Come, Brothers, bound by kindly ties. 

Your notes harmonious bring ; 
While acts of generous sacrifice, 

In thoughts of love, we sing. 

As days and years roll silent by. 

As time's sad changes rise, 
No doubt shall dim the trusting eye, 

AVhere rule the good and wise. 

To him who rules, be homage paid, 

Where hearts with voice unite ; 
' Till life shall cease, and time shall fade, 

We'll bring our solemn plight. 

Oration by Bro. the Eev. Stephen H. Tyng, D. D. 

Ode, (written for the occasion by Bro. John Brougham.) 

Music by Bro. Henry C. Watson. 

Sung by Messrs. Frazer, Cafperty and Lystbr, and 
Chorus with Organ. 

^ the WASHINGTON COMMEMOEATION ODE. 

Spirit iueflFable of heavenly love, descend, 

And sacred Friendship, man's supremest joy, 

With God-like Truth, eternal forming as ye blend, 

A living Triad, time can ne'er destroy. 

In bonds of amity and peace 

Bind yet more closely each fraternal heart, 

That loving-kindness may increase, 

And every evil thing from hence depart : 

So that with one soul-uttered, grateful voice, 

We raise the song to Heaven's arch on high, 

For it is wisely said we should rejoice — 

Rejoice ! and not bewail when good men die. 
Hail to thy memory, Columbia's honored son ; 
Revered through all ages be — Immortal Washington i 

Glory, unfading, sheds its lustre on thy name. 

Which shall endure while resteth land and sea, 

Coeval with the records of thy country's fame. 

For in thy pathway followed liberty. 

And anarchy and discord strove 

In vain, for never was thy banner furled 

Until the God of peace and love 

Gave freedom to the western world. 

'Tis not alone the warrior chief we praise, 

Though topmost he, the best among the best ; 

But that he did on earth a temple raise. 

Whose Keystone shall, in Heaven, for ever rest. 
Hail to thy memory, Columbia's honored son. 
Revered through all ages be— Immortal Washington ! 



10 centennial commemoration. 

Selection of Airs Dodworth's Band. 

Closing Hymn Full Choir and Organ. 

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb ! 

Take this new treasure to thy trust, 
And give these sacred relics room 

To slumber in the silent dust. 

Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear 

Invade thy bounds ; no mortal vfoes 
Can reach the silent sleepers here. 

And angels watch their soft repose . 

Prayer and Benediction, by the 
R. W. and Eev. Salem Town, D.D., Grand Chaplain, 

Instrumental Close Dodworth's Band. 

The demand for tickets of admission far exceeded the 
capacities of the Hall; between five and six thousand, how- 
ever, were issued, numerous applications being necessarily 
refused ; and long before the exercises commenced, the vast 
building was filled from the floor to the ceiling — not a place 
was unoccupied. Certainly not less than five thousand persons 
were present on the occasion. The Hall was dqcorated with 
the Banners of the M. W. Gfrand Lodge, the emblems of 
Masonry, the Banners of the Subordinate Lodges, the cele- 
brated full-length portrait of Washington, kindly furnished 
by Washington Costar, Esq., and several other portraits of 
the " Father of his Country," one of them representing him 
in his Masonic Regalia. 

At the commencement of the ceremonies a flourish of trum- 
pets heralded the approach of the M. W. Grand Lodge, which 
entered in ancient form, accompanied with the Orator and 
Chaplains, numerous representatives of Foreign G-rand Lodges 
near this Grand Lodge, and several distinguished Visiting 
Brethren ; — R. W. Deputy Grand Master, Joseph D. Evans, 
officiating as Grand Master. The vast audience was called 
up with the usual Masonic signal, by W. Brother L. A. Sykes, 
and the public Grand honors were given with admirable pre- 
cision. 



CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION. 11 

The following is a list of the G-rand Officers present : — 
R. W. Joseph D. Evans, as Grand Master. 
M. W. Oscar Coles, as Deputy Grand Master. 
"W. F. Fawcett, as Senior Grand Warden. 
R. W. John W. Simons, as Junior Grand Warden. 
R, W. James W. Powell, Grand Secretary. 

W. Geo. S. Gibbons, Assistant Grand Secretary. 
R. W. Thos. Dugan, Sr., Grand Treasurer. 
R. W. and Rev. Salem Town, D.D., Grand Chaplain. 
R. W. Wm. H. Underhill, Grand Marshal. 
W. E. Lyons, as Grand Standard Bearer. 
W. Henry F. L. Bunting, as Grand Sword Bearer. 
W. Chas. S, Wescott, Grand Steward. 
W. Thos. Dugan, Jr., as Grand Steward. 
W. CiiAS. A. Peck, as Grand Steward. 
W. J. P. Finkelmeier, as Grand Steward. 
R. W. RoBT. Macoy, Senior Grand Deacon. 

W. B. S. x\dams, as Junior Grand Deacon. 
Br. G. W. T. Jones, Grand Organist. 

W. D. H. Van Sice, Grand Pursuivant. 
W. Sewall Fisk, Grand Tiler. 
Next followed a Committee from St. John's Lodge, No. 1, 
with that venerable and precious relic, the Bible, (now the 
property of that ancient and respectable Lodge) on which 
the great Washington was inaugurated as first President of 
the United States. The Bible was accompanied by a guard 
of honor from the Continental Corps in uniform. 

The M. W. Grand Lodge, the Committee from St. John's 
Lodge, the Orator, Chaplains, the Guard of Honor, and the 
Artist Brethren, were seated on the platform, together with 
the Chorus and the Band. At the moment of taking their 
seats, the Hall presented one of the most magnificent Masonic 
spectacles ever witnessed in this or any other country. Most 
of the brethren present were in fuUjegalia, and the ladies in 
full d.ress. The brilliant costumes of the Cliapters and En- 
campments, the gorgeous regalia of the Grand Officers, the 
vast Hall thus crowded to repletion, and the solemn occasion 



12 



CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION. 



which had called this large assemblage together, produced an 
effect which none who witnessed it will ever cease to remem- 
ber. 

The R. W. and Rev. Bro. N. A. Okeson offered the fol- 
lowing prayer : 

Almighty God, onr Creator and Preserver, and contiaual Benefactor, assist us now to draw 
near to Thee with reverence and humility. Enable us to realize that we are in the presence 
of that " all-seeing eye " to which " all hearts are open, and from which no secrets are hid." 
Impart unto us a sense of our own weakness and unworthiness, and of Thine unspeakable 
greatness and majesty. Fill us, also, with love to Thee, and with charity towards all man- 
kind. And may our ancient and honorable Craft be known throughout the world, as an 
institution " full of mercy and good fruits, without partiahty and without hypocrisy." May 
our ''light" so shine before men that they seeing our works may glorify Thee our "Master" 
in heaven. Prosper Thou our handiwork ; strengthen the "mystic tie" by which we are 
bound together ; bless our present assembling; and make us ever ready to recognize as in- 
comparable and worthy of imitation the principles and character of him in commemoration 
of whose initiation into Masonry we are now met together. And when the "dangers " and 
" work " of life are over — when the infirmities of age come upon us, and the outward frame 
decays, may we be enabled to believe that we shall have a building of God, a " Temple not 
made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Direct us, Lord, "both now and forever," in all 
our doings, with Thy most gracious favor, and further us with Thy continual help; that in all 
our works begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may glorify Thy holy Name ; and finally, 
by Thy mercy, obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So mote it be — Amen. 

The M. "W. Grand Master then introduced, with appro- 
priate remarks, the Rev. Orator. 

In regard to the Oration which the Rev. author has, at the 
request of the M. W. Grand Lodge, kindly consented to place 
before the public, it is but necessary to say, that its delivery 
was listened to with breathless attention, only interrupted by 
frequent and irrepressible bursts of applause, as its magnifi- 
cent periods paused upon the ears of the delighted audience. 




C^tnitiial (Dratinit, 



Most "Worshipful Grand Master, 
Brethren of the G-rand Lodge, 

Brethren generally of our Ancient and 
Honorable Craft, 

Ladies and Gentlemen : 

We are assembled to-night as Americans, especially as 
members of the Society of Free and Accepted Masons, to 
honor the memory, the merits and excellences of our noble 
brother, George "Washington. 

No American fact is more purely American, than the cha- 
racter of AVashington. We view him as in all respects, — if 
beyond all measure the best specimen, yet in reality, — a true 
specimen of the American man. His whole life was passed 
in his own country, — and equally domesticated with his 
outward body, his heart and affections were, from youth to 
age, perfectly untravelled, living, acting, enjoying, and bless- 
ing, in his own native and beloved home. No foreign edu- 
cation, — or habits, or tastes acquired abroad, — or relations 
elevating or entangling with foreign parties, — made him a 
debtor, for any of the facts or parts of his unparalleled and 
uniform greatness of character and works. Perhaps no other 
American citizen distinguished at all in public life, was ever 
so completely American. His early youth was taught and 
disciplined wholly in the vales, and amidst the mountains 
and rivers of his own noble Virginia. His first blushing 
manhood was busily exercised in the military defence of his 
native State. His private maturity was passed, in contented 



14 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

cheerfulness, amidst the elevating and tranquillizing ern])loy- 
ments of agriculture, and the joys of social neighborhood, on 
the beautiful banks of the Potomac. His full summer of life 
was dedicated to his country's defence, and his country's 
greatness. And his calm and dignified autumnal evening de- 
scended happily and quietly to the tomb, on the very spot 
which had been the first home of his manhood, and the seat 
and centre of all his earthly joys. Grreat in every quality of 
humanity beyond comparison, his greatness is to us of par- 
ticular and priceless value, — that it was all our own. 

As an example of American greatness, it is our privilege, 
and our duty, to commemorate him, — to contemplate and re- 
vere his character, and to transmit from generation to genera- 
tion, — not only the memory of his excellence, but also the 
example, and the evidences, of our own estimation and ap- 
preciation of it, in each succeeding age. We thus make him, 
what he ought ever to be considered, a living American fact. 
Not so much, an individual who lived and finished his noble 
career, and then departed, and since remains upon the page 
of history alone, — but an actual and abiding type and em- 
bodiment of human greatness, which never passes, and which 
asks no effort of memory merely, to perpetuate'it, because it 
lives and acts, and influences, and governs, in every succes- 
sive age, as really and as completely as if in visible body, it 
lived and moved through all. It must never be, that Wash- 
ington ivas, in the forming and establishing of our Republic, 
and then, like other men of parts and power, passed into 
sleep, to be called to mind among the living, only occasionally, 
as circumstances should demand a reference to the opinions 
which he held, or the facts which he accomplished. This is 
well. This is all to which the most of men departed are en- 
titled. But lie must remain a living influence ; a power 
which never grows old ; an authority and an example which 
is as fresh now as it was fifty years ago, and which shall be 
as effective and as manifest a century hence, as it is now. 
This is our privilege and duty. Not to open books of history 
and say to our children, " There is Washington." Not to 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. ' 15 

point to beautiful specimens of the statuary's art, or pictures 
glowing on the canvas, or gorgeous monuments of marmoi-eal 
pomp, and say, "Behold him there." But to have him in 
his principles, and person, and character, so incorporated in our 
public institutions, and so vivifying in all the daily influence 
of our country, both relative and domestic, that the memory 
of his name shall be as imperishable as the existence of our 
race; and the unceasing tokens of his authority like a living 
hedge along the track of our Nation's history and geography. 
So that in every successive age of our Nation — America shall 
be Washington — and Washington shall be America. 

This is the great object of our assembly and array this day. 
Is America entitled to his name? We feel that our Ancient 
and Honored Craft is particularly entitled to it also. Did he 
illustrate the true principles of his country, and do those prin- 
ciples still exhibit and display him ? We feel justly entitled 
to say, that if the principles of Masonry did not malce him 
what he really was, they were never more completely illus- 
trated and exemplified than they were in him. And when 
we are asked for its principles, or its fruits ; for what it has 
donCj^or what it can do ; we point to the character of the 
Father of his Country, to say. See what Masonry is. See 
what the principles of Masonry can accomplish. 

When scarce of age, a hundred years ago, he sought admis- 
sion to our fraternity. Through all his subsequent career, he 
steadily wrought in the edifying of that great Temple, upon 
the walls of which our faithful craftsmen work. He main- 
tained his outward typical connection with our work, keeping 
up his lodge in the tented field, through all the war of our Re- 
volution, and frequently visiting the lodges in the various cities 
of our land. He honored in his age, our body, with his 
occasional presence. And all Free and Accepted Masons de- 
lighted to point to him, as a master workman among them, 
both in the symbolic and in the actual construction, in which 
the generations of our craft have been so long engaged. As 
the G. M. of the Masons of the United States, he laid the. cor- 
ner-stone of the Capitol, in 1793. And he was buried with 



16 • CENTENNIAL ORATIOX. 

Masonic honors by the lodge of which he was the first Master, 
iji 1799. In the very closing of his career, he said to our 
brethren in Rhode Island : " Being persuaded that a just ap- 
plication of the principles on which the Masonic Fraternity is 
founded, must be promotive of private virtue and public 
prosperity, I shall always be happy to advance the interests 
of the Society, and to be considered by them a deserving 
brother." To the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, in perhaps 
his last communication, he subsequently said, " Flattering as 
it may be to the human mind, and truly honorable as it is, to 
receive from our fellow-citizens, testimonies of approbation 
for exertions to promote the public welfare, it is not less 
pleasing to know, that the milder virtues of the heart are 
highly respected by a Society, whose liberal principles must 
be founded in the immutable laws of truth and justice. To 
enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy of the bene- 
volent design of a Masonic institution. And it is most fer- 
vently to be wished, that the conduct of every member of the 
Fraternity, as well as those publications that discover the 
principles which actuate them, may tend to convince man- 
kind, that the grand object of Masonry, is to promote the hap- 
piness of the human race. Permit me to assure you, that I 
feel all those emotions of gratitude, which your affectionate 
address and cordial wishes are calculated to inspire. And I 
sincerely pray, that the great Architect of the Universe may 
bless you here, and receive you hereafter into his immortal 
temple." He was never ashamed of our Society, in its prin- 
ciples, or in the just exemplification of them in their living 
agents. If at any time professed members of our Fraternity 
have so far forgotten, or abused the duty which they owe to 
those principles, and to our social embodiment of them here, 
as to have dishonored or degraded them, in their private con- 
duct and character, he would not have been more ashamed 
of them than is our Society itself. Let it be a rule in the 
practical government of our craft, — that we will respect and 
honor no workman, of whom "VVashingtox would have been 
ashamed. We read our principles in their manifestation and 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 17 

fruits in his character and life, and we meet to-day, to perpe- 
tuate them in their power, and to hand them down as living 
principles to our successors, by identifying them with his his- 
tory, and considering them in connection with his course. 
We will not say that Masonry taught him his principles of 
action. But we will say, that the principles of Masonry and 
of Washington were the same. 

A remarkable illustration of the extensive veneration 
in which the name of Washington is regarded among the 
Masonic fraternity in foreign lands has lately fallen under 
my notice in an account of a celebration held in the City of 
Manchester, in England, on the 16th of March, 1S52, although 
the ceremony itself originated in some strange mistakes. 
The recorded facts of Washington's Masonic history are in 
the register of the Fredericksburg Lodge, in the State of 
Virginia. He was there initiated as an apprentice on the 
4th of Nov., 1752, a few months before he attained his full 
age — of twenty-one. On the 3d of March, 1753, nine days 
after he was of age, he was advanced to the second degree 
of Fellow-craft. And on the 4th of August, 1753, he was 
exalted to the full d'egree of a Master Mason. This is the 
indubitable record of his entrance into the full standing- of 
the Order. And yet I find it declared in an English publi- 
cation ( TAe i^ree Masons'' Quarterly Revieu',iox July, 1834,) 
that he was initiated into Masonry, in a Lodge in the 46th 
Regiment of the British army, during the services of that 
Regiment in America. It is asserted that the very copy of 
the Holy Scriptures, upon which his obligation was taken, 
belonging to that Lodge, is now in the possession of a Capt. 
Child, an officer of that Regiment. On the 16th of March 
last, this Bible was brought, under a military escort, to the 
Lodge of Virtue, in the City of Manchester, as an object of 
very peculiar interest and veneration. Three times the pro- 
cession of the brethren moved in solemn order round the 
Lodge, the Bible carried by the oldest member of the Lodge. 
And then they all united to sing in harmony, that beautiful 
hymn, 

2 



18 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

" Holy Bible, botjk Divine — 
Precious treasure, thou art mine." 

The lecturer on the occasion says : "We were privileged to 
handle in our own hands, and to behold with our own e3'-es, 
and to seal with our own lips, that copy of the Sacred Law, 
upon which the great Washington was obligated, before his 
admission into the mysteries of our ancient and divine order. 
Was there a heart which did not throb with joy, when we 
joined in procession round this Lodge ? Was there a voice 
which did not join in chorus whilst singing that beauteous 
hymn which was selected for this occasion? Dear Brethren, 
we enjoyed a great privilege, and it must not be permitted 
to become of a transitory character." 

We receive with great delight this token of foreign re- 
verence for our great American, and the evidence which it 
gives us of the extending influence of his name, and history, 
and opinions, over the people in other lands. But in this in- 
stance it arises out of a total error in the facts of history, 
which it is our right and duty to correct. Gren. Braddock, 
under whom Washington had his first connection with the 
British army, did not arrive in Virginia until the 20th of 
February, 1755 — two years after Washington had become a 
Mason. Nor was Washington introduced to the British offi- 
cers until April, 1755. Nor had he any personal connec- 
tion with any regiment of English troops till after that time. 
Though it is very likely, therefore, that he maintained his 
Masonic connection with them in the subsequent campaign, 
if there really were a military Lodge in the army of G-en- 
eral Braddock, it is not the fact that he was by them initiated 
into Masonry. No. Washington's entrance into Masonry 
was as truly American as the whole residue of his noble 
career. No foreign soldiers taught him its sublime princi- 
ples. They gave him, indeed, ample scope to exercise and 
display those principles, in the many provocations of that 
early campaign, and in the long and faithful probation of 
his character, which their bitter and varied hostilities brought 
out in the subsequent Revolutionary war. But he owed no- 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 19 

thing directly to their teaching. Of that army under Brad- 
dock he says, in a letter to his mother after their defeat : 
" The dastardly behavior of the regular troops, (so called,) 
exposed all others who were inclined to do their duty to al- 
most certain death, and, at last, in despite of all the efforts of 
the officers to the contrary, they ran as sheep pursued by 
dogs, and it was impossible to rally them." Of his own 
position in the unfortunate battle of that day he says : *' By 
the all-powerful dispensations of Providence"— Ah, beautiful 
illustration ot the way in which, from the very beginning of 
his glorious career, he was accustomed to acknowledge and 
reverence the Divine presence, and the Providence of Grod ! 
— " By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have 
been protected beyond all human probability or expectation. 
I had four bullets through ray coat and two horses shot under 
me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was levelling my 
companions on every side of me." Of him, then but 23 
years old, the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterwards President of 
Princeton College, said in a sermon delivered on the 17th of 
August, 1755, but a month after the battle, " As a remark- 
able instance of patriotic spirit and military ardor, I may 
point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel Washing- 
TON, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto pre- 
served in so signal a manner for some important service to 
his country." How wonderfully prophetic was this passage ! 
We may now add in its actual accomplishment, important 
service not to his country only, but to the honor, dignity, 
and happiness of the whole human race. 

But from this needful digression permit me to return to 
the beautiful display of some of our fundamental principles, 
which was so brightly exhibited in the life of Washington. 

Never was our fundamental principle of justice more 
beautifully or perfectly realized by man. Every foot of his 
wall was built in rigid conformity to the square and the 
plummet. You may trace this principle in all his own pri- 
vate accounts. To be in debt, was, in his judgment, to be 
in slavery ; a slavery to which no Free-Mason could be hon- 



20 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

orably subjected. For years his books were kept by his 
own hands, in the most beantifal style of neatness and punc- 
tuahty. He maintained a perfect oversight of his own busi- 
ness, detecting any mismanagement or carelessness in others, 
— and habitually choosing never to rely upon others, to do 
that which he could do for himself. In his management of 
public trusts, — during the whole eight years' campaigns of 
the Revolution, he kept an exact account of all his expendi- 
tures in the public serfice — and exhibited them in his own 
handwriting to Congress, at the close of the war ; not only 
refusing any remuneration for the services he performed, but 
faithfully declaring himself largely a willing loser, in amounts 
of his own private funds which had been expended in the 
public service. When he entered upon his great trust as the 
President of the United States, he said to Congress : " When 
I was first honored with a call into the service of my coun- 
try, then on the eve of an arduous struggle for its liberties, 
the light in which I contemplated my duty, required that I 
should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this 
resolution I have in no instance departed. And being still 
under the impressions which produced it, I must still decline, 
as inapplicable to myself, any share in the personal emolu- 
ments which may be indispensably included in a permanent 
provision for the Executive Department. And must accord- 
ingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station, in 
which I am placed, may, during my continuance in it, be 
limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may 
be thought to require." 

How beautifully did this great principle rule, in all 
his exercise of official authority, both military and civil I 
Who ever sustained against him a single charge of injustice 
or tyrannical oppression ? Armed with the conscious rectitude 
and dignity of his character, he could instantly arrest the in- 
solent insubordination of men like Charles Lee. He could 
despise the cabals of Grates and Conway, from the death-bed 
of the last of whom he received the message of sorrow as the 
dying man departed. "My career will soon be over, there- 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 21 

fore justice and truth prompt me to declare my last senti- 
ments. You are, in my eyes, the great and good man. May 
you long enjoy the love, veneration, and esteem of these States, 
whose liberties you have asserted by your virtues." From 
the very same principle, he could resist all importunities to 
spare from merited punishment, the interesting Andre, the 
companion and agent of Arnold, because he firmly believed 
that unerring justice required him to suffer. 

How tenderly and truly was this principle displayed in his 
own private affairs in his last will, at the close of his glorious 
career ! " All my debts, of which there are but few, and 
none of magnitude, are to be punctually and speedily paid." 
" Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that 
all the slaves whom I hold in my own right, shall receive 
their freedom. To emancipate them during her life would, 
though earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuper- 
able difficulties, on account of their intermixture by marriage 
with the dower negroes, as to excite the most painful sensa- 
tions, if not disagreeable consequences to the latter ; it not 
being in my power, under the tenure by whicli the dower 
negroes are held, to manumit them. And whereas, among 
those who will receive freedom according to this devise, there 
may be some who, from old ago or bodily infirmities, will be 
unable to support themselves, it is my will and desire, that 
all these shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my heirs 
while they live. And- 1 do hereby expressly forbid the sale, 
or transportation out of the Commonwealth, (of Virginia) of 
any slave I may die possessed of, under any pretence whatev- 
er." Well may Virginia be proud in displaying this character 
and example of her noble Son I Thus, under the conscious- 
ness of the great All-seeing eye, never forgotten, the light of 
justice shone throughout his life, purely, brightly, steadily to 
the end. 

Nor was he less distinguished by our other great principle 
of Love. Love, which wrought in beneficence to the needy, 
in forgiveness to the penitent, in the kindest and most liberal 
constructions of the motives and characters of other men, in 



22 CENTENNIAL OKATION. 

the strongest emotions of private friendship, and in what is 
perhaps one of its highest exhibitions, in the perfect tolera- 
tion of the religious conscience of mankind. Strong and 
binding was this cement of his edifice. Plastic and soft 
as the purest gum in its application. Grasping, and tena- 
cious, and abiding as the sculptured adamants which it united 
to form the wdiole outward aspect of his noble structure. See 
this beautiful principle of Masonry, in his instructions to his 
agent, while absent with the ai'mies of his country : " Let 
the hospitality of the house, with respect to the poor, be 
kept up. Let no one go hungry away. If any of this kind" 
of people should be in want of corn, supply their necessities, 
provided it does not encourage them in idleness. I have no 
objection to your giving my money in charity to the amount 
of forty or fifty pounds a year, when you think it well be- 
stowed. What I mean by having no objection is, that it is 
my desire that it should be done. You are to consider that 
neither myself nor wife is now in the way to do these good 
offices." 

In his most intimate domestic relation, how perfectly did 
this blessed principle govern ! Forty years he passed most 
happily with the wife of his choice. She was indeed an ob- 
ject worthy of his love. Her character was an honor to his 
name. Exemplary in her whole deportment, bright in her 
acts of kindness, unostentatious and sincere in her piety, she 
adorned every station in which his increasing greatness placed 
her. No Mason ever adjourned from labor to refreshment, to 
find a lovelier home, or a happier companion. Well does he 
say to her, when called to his country's service, and refresh- 
ment must again give place to labor :( "I should enjoy more 
real happiness in one month with you at home, than I have 
the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were 
to be seven times seven years. It was utterly out of my 
power to refuse this appointment, without exposing my chaT- 
acter to such censures as would have reflected dishonor upon 
myself, and given pain to my friends. This, I am sure, 



CENTENNIAL ORATION 23 

could not and ought not to be pleasing to you, and must have 
lessened me considerably in my own esteem." 

How deeply atlecting was the display of this principle of 
his action, in his last separation from his faithful companions 
in arms ! "At noon," says Marshall, " the principal ofhcers 
of the army assembled ; soon after which their beloved com- 
mander entered the room. His emotions were too strong to 
be concealed. Turning to them, he said : ' With a heart full 
of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. 1 most de- 
voutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and 
iiappy, as your former ones have been glorious and honora- 
ble. I cannot come to each of you, to take my leave, but 
shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the 
hand.' G-eneral Knox, being nearest, turned to him. Wash- 
ington, incapable of utterance, grasped his hand and em- 
braced him. In the same affectionate manner he took leave 
of each succeeding officer. The tear of manly sensibility 
was in every eye, and not a word was articulated to inter- 
rupt the dignified silence and the tenderness of the scene. 
Leaving the room, he passed through the corps of Light In- 
fantry and walked to White Hall, where a barge waited to 
convey him to Paulus Hook. The whole company followed 
in mute and solemn procession, with dejected countenances, 
testifying feelings of delicious melancholy, which no language 
can describe. Having entered the barge, he turned to the 
company, and waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. 
They had expressed to him, on a previous occasion, the dis- 
tinct answer which their hearts would then have uttered, de- 
claring that they had • engaged with him in the service of 
their country from the purest love and attachment to the 
rights and liberties of human nature,' and assuring their 
Commander ' that they reciprocate his affectionate expres- 
sions with the greatest sincerity of which the human heart is 
capable.' " 

The great Masonic principle, of persevering fidelity in ap- 
pointed duty, also shone most conspicuously in him. Never 
was a man more truly right upon principle, — or more sys- 



24 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

tematically persevering in following his chosen principle of 
right. A perfect recognition of the great subordinating rule 
of order governed him in every step and act. He learned, in 
every succeeding gradation, in the work of edifying the human 
character, and building the great moral temple, to be equally 
faithful in that which was least, and that which was much. 
And his work, from the time that he mounted the wall as an 
apprentice, to the glorious day when, as a wise master builder, 
he set the key of his arch, and brought forth the topstone of 
his excellence as a man, was eminently distinguished by un- 
interrupted, and the most' modest fidelity in every duty to 
which he was called. From his first entrance upon public 
life, when but one and twenty years of age, supreme confi- 
dence was placed in him, as a military commander, by his 
native State ; a confidence which was never forfeited or with- 
drawn. On his return from his first series of early cam- 
paigns when yet a youth, " by a vote of the House of Bur- 
gesses of Yirginia, the Speaker was directed to return their 
thanks to Col. Washington on behalf of the Colony, for the 
distinguished military services which he had rendered to his 
country." As soon as Col. Washington took his seat, the 
Speaker, in obedience to his order, and following the impul- 
ses of his own generous and grateful heart, discharged the 
duty with great dignity, but with such warmth of coloring and 
strength of expression as entirely confounded the young hero. 
He rose to express his acknowledgments for the honor ; but 
such was his trepidation and confusion, that he could not give 
distinct utterance to a single syllable. He blushed, stam- 
mered, and trembled, for a second ; — when the Speaker re- 
lieved him by a brilliant and happy rejoinder : " Sit down, Mr. 
Washington : your modesty equals your valor, and that sur- 
passes the power of any language that I possess." All 
through his life this beautifully modest fidelity distinguished 
his course. For eight years and a half in command of the 
American armies, he was never once absent from the army 
for a visit to his own house. He saw his beloved Mount Ver- 
non but once during this period, when in the line of his mili- 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 25 

tary journey to Yorktown, in Virginia. In the midst of the 
war, Congress conferred upon him the unlimited powers of a 
Dictator, granted in consequence of their " perfect reliance 
on his wisdom, vigor, and uprightness." But in the fulfil- 
ment of these unrestricted powers, (says Mr. Sparks), " fear- 
less in the discharge of duty, and never shrinking from res- 
ponsibility, he was at the same time free from the vanity, 
which too often besets men in high stations, of gaining personal 
consequence by making himself felt as the centre and moving 
spring of the operations over which he had control. No man 
was more vigilant in seeing that everything was properly 
done. But he was willing that others should be the agents 
or the contrivers, and that every one should have the credit 
and praise of his worthy deeds." " He was a silent, thought- 
ful man," says a grand-daughter of his wife, a member of 
his family. " He spoke little generally — never of himself; I 
never heard him relate a single act of his life during the war." 
Bishop White says of him, " Although I was often in company 
with this great man, and had the honor of dining often at his 
table, I knew no man who so carefully guarded against the 
discoursing of himself or of his acts, or of anything that per- 
tained to him. And it has occasionally occurred to me when 
in his company, that if a stranger to his person were present, 
he would never have known from anything said by the Presi- 
dent, that he was conscious of having distinguished himself 
in the eye of the world." 

This was the spirit of his fidelity from youth to age. " In 
the midst of scenes of trials and discouragements he stood 
firm. His letters in the darkest period breathe the same de- 
termined spirit, and are marked by the same confidence, calm- 
ness and forethought, which distinguish them on all occasions. 
When asked what he would do in case of the continued suc- 
cess of the invaders ? Faithful to the cause of liberty, he 
said, ' We will retreat beyond the Susquehanna River — and 
thence, if necessary, to the Alleghany Mountains.' In the 
midst of the dismal winter of 1776, he wrote to the President 
of Congress: 'My feelings as an officer and a man have 
been such as to force me to say, that no person ever had a 



26 . CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

greater choice of difficulties to contend with than I have. It 
may be thought that I am going a good deal out of the line 
of my duty to advise thus freely. A character to lose, an 
estate to forfeit, the inestimable blessings of liberty at stake, 
and a life devoted, must be my excuse.' " 

To trace this great principle of character in all its mani- 
festations, is impossible. I may be allowed to adduce a single 
extract illustrating it, from his Farewell Address : "In offer- 
ing to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and af- 
fectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong 
and lasting impression I could wish. But if I may even 
flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial 
benefit, some occasional good, this hope will be a full recom- 
pense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have 
been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, 
I have been guided by the principles which have been de- 
lineated, the public records and other evidences of my con- 
duct must witness to you, and to the world. To myself, the 
assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least be- 
lieved myself to be guided by them. Though in reviewing 
the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of in- 
tentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects 
not to think it probable that I have committed many errors. 
Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to 
avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall 
also carry with me the hope, that my country will never cease 
to view them with indulgence, and that after forty-five years 
of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the 
faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, 
as myself must soon be, to the mansions of rest." 

Thus he lived and triumphed, and the crowning of his 
fidelity with success gives us the permission to meet and 
commemorate his unparalleled greatness this day. Let it be 
the purpose of United Masons throughout this happy land, 
and in every succeeding age of our country's history, — to 
maintain and perpetuate the great truths and principles so 
happily expounded in his Farewell Address, — assuring the 
memory of our exalted brother, that to the utmost of our in- 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 27 

fluence, union, harmony, co-operation and peace, — greattokens 
of our order, in opposition to all sectionisra or sectarianism — 
shall be established over the whole extended soil, the wealth 
of which we all reap, — and the responsibility of which we 
must all bear. 

Permit me to adduce one more illustration of AVashington's 
Masonic greatness. It is his distinct and constant mainte- 
nance of the AUTHORITY of RELIGION. Our houored Society 
maintains this open profession in carrying ever before us, and 
in our midst, with solemn reverence, the Hol}^ Bible ; an open 
Bible. We have in our midst, this day, guarded by soldiers 
who look as if they had lived from Washington's time to ours, 
the very Bible over which our exalted Washington uttered his 
first obligation of conformity to the Constitution of his country, 
as the Chief Magistrate of this Union. This venerated Bible is 
in the possession of St. John's Lodge in this City, who never 
allow it to leave their Lodge, but with a committee of their body, 
and a suitable guard of Continentals, whose privilege it is al- 
ways to attend it — which Guard you see before you here.* 
And, as his whole life illustrated and displayed our other prin- 
ciples with constancy and power, so did it also this, Masonic 
reverence for the Divine revelation, and maintenance of the pre- 
cepts and obligations of religion. From the commencement of 
his military career^ a youth of 21 years old, he constantly main- 
tained the services of religious worship in his camp. He re- 
monstrated against the neglect of Virginia in providing chap- 
lains -for his army, and insisted with success upon their ap- 
pointment. Among the first orders of that early campaign 
was his solemn prohibition of all profanity in the army. The 
feameorder he frequently repeated in the subsequent campaigns 
of the Revolution. His habitual regard for the Sabbath, and 
the public worship of Grod, and his own private personal 
worship, were among the most prominent facts of his charac- 
ter. When the Burgesses of Virginia appointed a day for 
fasting and prayer, in May, '74, to implore the Divine inter- 
position in their heavy calamity, AVashington records, in his 

* The " Continentals," a Military Company of New York in the ancient mili- 
tary dress of the American army. 



28 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

diavy, little imagining that fourscore years after, this diary 
would remain, a striiving evidence of his religious spirit, that 
he " went to church and fasted all day." The same member 
of his family, from whom I have already quoted, says of 
him : " He never omitted attending church in the morning, 
unless detained by indisposition. The afternoon was spent 
in his own room, at home — but visiting and visitors were 
prohibited for that day. No one in church attended to the 
services with more reverential aspect.'' How valuable the 
example to all the rulers of the nation who have come after 
him ! The records of his orderly book display continually, 
his supreme and constant regard for religion. Ordering at- 
tention to the services of the appropriate Chaplains, he says 
to his army : " The blessing and protection of Heaven are at 
all times necessary, but especially so in times of public dis- 
tress and danger. The G-eneral hopes and trusts that every 
officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a 
Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of 
his country." Again : " That the troops may have an op- 
portunity of attending public worship, the General, in future, 
excuses them from fatigue duty on Sundays. The General is 
sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of 
profane cursing and swearing, — a vice heretofore little known 
in an American army, — is growing into fashion. He hopes 
that the officers will, by example as well as influence, en- 
deavor to check it, and that both they and the men will re- 
flect that we can have little hope of the blessing of Hea- 
ven on our arms, if we insult it by our impiety and folly." I 
might vastly multiply such quotations as these, were it ne- 
cessary, to illustrate the religious habit of his mind. When' 
the war was concluded, he says in his general orders, " The 
chaplains with the several brigades will render thanks to 
Almighty God for all his mercies, particularly for his overrul- 
ing the wrath of man to his own glory, and causing the rage 
of war to cease among the nations." In his different letters, 
he speaks most earnestly to the same effect : " The hand of 
Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must 
be worse than an Infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 29 

that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations." 
Again : " I am sure there never was a people who had more 
reason to acknowledge a Divine interposition in their affairs 
than those of the United States, and I should be pained to 
believe, that they have forgotten that agency, which was so 
often manifested during our Revohition, or that they failed to 
consider the omnipotence of that Grod who is alone able to 
protect them." 

His addresses to the various religious bodies of the United 
States all testify the same feeling and spirit. Religion in 
sincerity, but without bigotry, was his principle. Religion 
in its spirit, but without sectarianism, was his habit. He 
says in one of these addresses: "It would ill become me to 
conceal the joy I have felt in perceiving the fraternal affection 
which appears to increase every day among the friends of gen- 
uine religion. It affords an edifying prospect, indeed, to see 
Christians of every denomination dwell together in more 
charity, and conduct themselves in respect to each other with 
a more Christian-like spirit, than they have done in any 
former age, or in any other nation." Again he says: "Of 
all the animosities which have existed among mEtnkind, those 
which are caused by difference of sentiments in religion ap- 
pear to be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most 
to be deprecated. I was in hopes that the enlightened and 
liberal policy which has marked the present age, would at 
least have reconciled Christians of every denomination, so far 
as that we should never see religious disputes carried to such 
a pitch as to endanger the peace of society." And again he 
says : " If I could now conceive that the general government 
might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of 
conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one 
would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual bar- 
riers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every spe- 
cies of religious persecution. You doubtless remember that 
I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man, con- 
ducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to 
God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in 



30 CENTENNIAL ORATION. 

worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own 
conscience." Again, to the Roman Catholics in the United , 
States, he says: "Your fellow-citizens will not forget the 
patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their 
Revolution and the establishment of their G-overnment, or the 
important assistance which they received from a nation in 
which the Roman Catholic religion is professed. May the 
members of your Society in America, animated alone by the 
pure spirit of Christianity, and still conducting themselves as 
the foithful subjects of our free Government, enjoy long tem- 
poral and spiritual felicity." Well does Mr. Sparks say of 
him, "If a man who spoke, wrote and acted as a Christian 
through a long life, who gave numerous proofs of his believ- 
ing himself to be such, and who was never known to say, 
write, or do anything contrary to his professions, — if such a 
man is not to be ranked among the believers in Christianity, 
it would be impossible to establish the point by any train of 
reasoning. He was educated in the Episcopal Church, to 
which he always adhered ; and my conviction is, that he 
believed in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, as 
usually taught in that Church, according to his understanding 
of them, but without a particle of intolerance, or disrespect 
for the faith and modes of worship adopted by Christians of 
other denominations." Rarely was there ever a more perfect 
illustration of the great Masonic principle upon this subject — 
a principle which may well be summed up in the two great 
commandments of the Divine Author of Christianity : " Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and mind, 
and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself" 

This was the character of our exalted brother, as viewed 
in the light of the principles of our fraternity — a character of 
which we are justly proud, in his relation to us. A charac- 
ter, the living example and influence of which we would 
love to perpetuate ; — a character the authority of which we 
desire Americans ever to vindicate, and wish, to the utmost 
of our power, to exalt and honor. Never may a Mason vio- 
late the principles, or stain the reputation of Washington. 



CENTENNIAL ORATION. 31 

Never may a Mason unite in breaking a single stone of that 
glorious Union of States, which his fidelity in war obtained, 
which his wisdom in administration cemented, and which his 
whole life and character honored and adorned. Let us unite 
to inscribe his living pattern upon the mind of our posterity. 
In youth, the perfect pattern of submission and system for 
our young. In maturity, the very model of patriotism and 
fidelity by which every citizen should be fashioned. In age, 
the noble specimen of ripened dignity, and humble faith de- 
scending to the tomb, without a cloud upon his character, — 
without a single weakness of senility, — and with a bright 
and rational hope, of an inheritance where the wise shall shine 
as the brightness of the firmament, — and the brethren of the 
redeemed family of God, shall meet in a dwelling-place of 
glory — rejoicing forever in their Father's House. 

These interesting ceremonies were closed by a truly eloquent 
and impressive Masonic benediction, pronounced by our vene- 
rable brother, the R. W. and Rev. Salem Town, D.D., Grand 
Chaplain. 



OCT 27 WOO 



I 



